Apparatus for cutting sheets from webs of cardboard, paper, and the like



Oct. 14, 1952 J. E. BATTERSBY 2,613,741

- APPARATUS FOR CUTTING SHEETS FROM WEBS 0F CARDBOARD, PAPER, AND THE LIKE Filed March 29, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnv ell-tap c1 .fiaibiez a by Oct. 14, 1952 J. E. BATTERSBY 2,613,741

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING SHEETS FROM S OF CARDBOARD, PAPER, AND THE LI Filed March 29, 1950 3 Sheets-Sneet 2 lZbU fainter QZZEQ ersfiy Oct. 14, 1952 J. E. BATTERSBY 2,613,741

ARATUS TING SHEETS FROM WEBS F CARDB D, APER, AND THE LIKE Filed March 29, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 14, 1952 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING SHEETS FROM WEBS OF CARDBOARD, PAPER, AND THE LIKE James Eckersley Battersby, London, England, as-

signor to Masson Scott & Company Limited,

London, England Application March 29, 1950, Serial No. 152,730 In Great Britain April 2,1949

8 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for cut ting sheets from webs of cardboard, paper and the like, of the kind comprising feed rolls for longitudinally slit webs and a plurality of cut ters for cutting the webs transversely, arranged so that webs can be fed from the rolls to any one or more of the cutters. By operating the transverse cutters at different speeds, this arrangement allows one or more of the webs which have been divided longitudinally by slitting means to be fed to one of the cutters whilst the remainder are fed to another cutter and thus sheets of two different lengths can be produced simultaneously. It is usual to arrange one of a pair of cutters adjacent to the feed rolls, the second cutter being at some distance away and the webs travelling to the said second cutter over a table located above the first cutter, said webs being fed to the second cutter by auxiliary feed rolls or equivalent means.

Apparatus of the above kind is intended particularly for cutting sheets of cardboard and the like and is generally operated in tandem with the board making machine, since the thickness and rigidity of the board makes it incon venient or diflicult to wind in a reel. However the apparatus can be employed with thinner material and the webs can if desired be drawn from a reel or reels instead of direct from the board making machine. It is necessary that the webs fed to the respective cutters should leave the main feed rolls at different angles and this involves considerable difficulties both in the initial feeding of the webs and during the'operation of the machine, especially with cardboard and like webs. The web tends to leave the feed rolls in the direction of their common tangent, and in the usual arrangements hitherto employed the rolls are disposed so that this tangent lies between the optimum directions for the respective cutters but nearest to the line of the table aforesaid, the webs passing to the first or nearer cutter being diverted away from the common tangent and towards the said outter by a pair of suitably disposed guide rolls.

When webs are being received from a cardboard making machine at high speed, for example 400 feet per minute, and may be many feet in width, the initial feeding of board to the respective cutters requires great skill and frequently involves extensive waste of board as well as risk of damage to the machinery. The usual prac-' tice is for an operator to cut a tail a few inches in width from the web of board with a hand knife, and this tail is fed through the main feed rolls;

rolls andthe aforesaid guide rolls to the first or nearest cutter, the tail being then gradually widened until the full width of web is being feel.

A second tail is similarly cut and fed over the table to the second cutter and similarly widened. Apart from the difficulties attendant upon the above described initial web feeding operations,

it is found that the appreciable angle through which the webs are bent in their path from the main feed rolls to one of the two cutters leads to irregularities in feeding under normal operating conditions and results in inaccurate cut ting of the sheets. It is the object of the invention to provide improvedweb cutting ape paratus employing duplex cutters in which the above disadvantages are overcome in a simple and convenient manner.

A further object is toprovide an improved mounting of the feed rolls which draw the longi-. tudinally slit webs and feed them to therespective cutters so that the most favourable feed-' ing conditions may be provided forthe respec5- tive cutters.

A'further object is to ables the most favourable feeding conditions. to

be initially provided for feeding slit webs to one of the plurality of cutters and for subsequently providing favourable feeding conditions for another of the cutters.

A further object is to provlde simple and convenient means which can be power operated. whereby the required adjustment of theafore said feed rolls may be effected.

A further object is to provide, in conjunction with means for adjustably mounting the feed rolls vas. described above, an arrangement where-, by the feed can be readily interrupted whenv desired.

A further object is to provide improved means i for effecting the passage of the web or web's to the cutter which is further from the feed Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a duplex sheet cutting apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly in section to an enlarged scale, of one end of the sheet: cutting apparatus showing the mechanism forposition of the feeding adjusting the relative provide an improved. mounting for the aforesaid feed rolls which env Figure 3 is an end view of one side of the adjusting mechanism shown in Figure 2.

The invention will be described as applied by way of example to a cardboard web cutting apparatus comprising two rotary cross putting devices of the kind having arotating knife, generally of helical or offset form to give a straight out across the travelling web, co-operating with a fixed knife. the cutting devices being arranged one behind the other with suitable;means for supporting the web above the first cutting device and leading it to a pair of auxiliary feed rolls which feed the web to the second cutting device.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a main frame I upon which are rotatably supported two rotary cutting devices indicated generally at 2 and 3. The rotatable helically dis posed knives 4 of these cutting devices co-operate with fixed knives 5. The cardboard weba received from a board making machine or other source of supply enters the apparatus upon-a supporting roll 6 and passes between rotaryslit: ting knives 1 and -8 by the action of whichit-is divided. longitudinally into two or more webs according to the numberof pairs. of slitting knivesemployed. The webs are drawn into the apparatus .by main feed rolls Band II] which are situated adjacent the first cross cutting device '2. The lower main feed roll 9 is driven and the upper roll 10 is carried by pivoted links ll so. that it rests upon the lower roll,-the weight of the upper roll being sufiicient to maintain the desired feedingroll pressure. This may besupplemented by weightsorsprings if necessary. The bearings for the lower roll are fixed and this roll is driven. from. the main shaft I2 through bevel gearing l3, vertical shaftj l4, and. bevel gearing [5. The links ll which carry. the upper. roll l0 arepivotally connected at 16 to a pair of plates [1 of generally triangular shape and each havingastifiening rib I la. It will be understood that thereare', two link H, one at either end of the roll [0, and two plates I! similarly arranged at either side of themain frame l This arrangement isshown indetail in Figures 2 and 3. The links [I have bifurcated ends 18 carrying the pivots IS. The plates I! are rigidly connected by a hollow spindle 19 rotatably supported in'bearingsip in the main frame, the plates being thereby pivotally mounted'about the axis of the said spindle which. is located below and'somewhat to the side ofthe axis of the roll 9. A'hydraulic cylinder 2| is anchored at its lower end to a pivot pin-'22 on one side of the main frame and .its piston rod 23 has a bifurcated head 24 connected by a pivot 25 to one of the plates ll. Suitable control means of a'well-known kind are provided for admitting hydraulic fluid to one or other end of the cylinder 2| to adjust the angular position of the two plates I1 and thereby vary the angular positionof the upper roll I0 with respect to the lower roll 9. Each of the plates IT has formed on it an abutment surface 26 which can be engaged by a stop screw. 21 mountedonthe-linkhead [8. The arrangement issuch that when the plates I! are swung in a clockwise direction to a predetermined position, the screws 2'! engage the abutment surfaces 26 and upon further movement of the plates rearwardly the links will be raised so thattheupper roll I0 is lifted from the surface of the lower roll as shown in broken lines in Figure 2, and the-feed of the web is thereby interrupted. Angular displacement of the plates l1 in the opposite direction will first cause the upper roll I0 to engage the lower roll and subsequently to move in an arcuate path concentric with the axis of the said lower roll.

A tape or other suitable form of conveyor 28 is arranged above the first cross cutting device 2 and is carried upon rolls 29, 3 0, .31 and 32. The purpose of this conveyoris to lead one or more of the slitwebs to a pair of auxiliary feed rolls 3,3 and 34 for feeding such web or webs to the second cross cutting device 3. These auxiliary rolls are arranged with their common tangent so disposedin relation to the fixed knife 5 of the cutting device 3 that the most favourable condition for feeding the board is obtained, i. e. so that the path of theboard between the feed rolls andzthecutting line approximates to the common tangent f the rolls.

The drive for the first cross cutting device 2 is provided by a shaft 35 driven by a bevel gear 36 from the gear [3, and an infinitely variable ratio speed changing device comprising a pair of adjustableconepulleys 3.1 on shaft 3 a belt 38, a similar pair of adjustable cone pulleys 39-:on a shaft .40, and pivoted levers .4l actuated by a threaded spindle 42 for adjusting the cone pulleys. The shaft 40 drives a vertical shaft 43 through bevel gears 44 and the vertical shaft drives the cutter drum through bevel gears 45. The lower auxiliary feed roll 34 is driven from a vertical shaft 45 through skew gears 41, the said vertical shaft-being driven from an extension 48 of the shaft 35 bya belt 49 and gearing 50. The second cross cutting device 3 is driven from shaft 48 through bevel gears 5!, vertical shaft 52, bevel gears 53, and an infinitely variable ratio change speed device indicated generally at 54 which is similar to that previously described for driving the-first cutting device 2. The sheets severed from the board webs by'the cutting devices 2 and3 are directed by-inclined guides 55 and 5 6 to the upper horizontal surface of a tape or other suitable travelling conveyor or conveyors 51 by which they are transported to any convenient point for stacking or to a stacking device or layboy.

The arrangement is such that the longitudinally slit board web aiis drawn into the apparatus by the main feed rolls Sand I0. The

slitting cutters 7 andv 8 may .be carried on the apparatus as shown in Figure 1, or they may be separately arranged and driven if desired. In the initial web feeding-operation, theupper feed roll I!) is adjusted, by means of the hydraulic cylinder 2|, so that the webs are fed over the conveyor. .28 .to the auxiliary feed rolls 33, 34 which direct the webs to the second cross cutting device 3.. This is effected by adjusting the pivoted plates 41 and hence the position of the upper roll H) in relation to the lower roll 9 so that the webs leaving the rolls at their natural angle will pass readily to the conveyor, and thus no diificulty in the initial feeding operation is encountered. To obtain this condition, the roll I0 would require to be positioned near the top of the lower roll 9Tj.. e. to the right as viewed in Figures 1 and 2. When it is desired to feed a web or-webs to the-first cross cutting device '2, the upper feed roll ID is adjusted in the direction of web feed so that the common tangent of the rolls 9, I0 is directed downwardly toaiford the most favourable con- .ditions for feeding .to the cutter. If is found that this adjustment. of the rolls does not materially affect the feeding of the webs which are already travelling over the conveyor 28 to the second cutting device. A tail or. strip of board is then initially fedtothe main feed rolls 9 and jt and by reason of their adjustedrela ti'ias described above this' tan wm be directed downwardly-towards the cutting} device -2 and the feed of" this web can be continued thereto without difficulty or irregularity under ordinary operating conditions. This adjusted position of themain feed rolls is showni'in' Figures land 2 and it will be seen that the common tangent of the rolls lies in the general direction of the transverse cutting line of the nearer cutting device 2. The web or webs passing to the first cutting device 2 are shown at b, and the web or webs passing to the second cutting device 3 are shown at c. When it is desired to interrupt the feeding of the webs by the rolls 9 and I0, this is readily effected by swinging the plates 11 rearwardly to the position shown in broken lines in Figure 2 which causes the roll Ill to be lifted bodily from the roll 9.

It will be understood that other mounting means for the roll whereby it can be adjusted angularly in respect to the roll 9 may be employed, and the construction described represents one example of many possible arrangements. Also whilst the invention is applicable with particular advantage to the cutting of sheets from cardboard and similar relatively thick material it is not restricted thereto but may be used with thinner material such as paper and the like.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for cutting sheets from longitudinally slit webs having a plurality of cutters for cutting the webs transversely and web feeding means arranged so that Webs can be fed to any one or more of the cutters, the combination with a pair of coacting web feed rolls for feeding the slit webs to the cutters, of means-"for adjustably varying the relative angular relationship of the said feed roll axes in such a manner that the direction of the common tangent of the roll surfaces can be varied between positions corresponding to favourable feeding conditions for one or other of the cutters.

2. In an apparatus for cutting sheets from longitudinally slit webs having a plurality of cutters for cutting the webs transversely and web feeding means arranged so that the webs can be fed to any one or more of the cutters,

the combination with a main lower web feed.

roll having a relatively fixed axis and a main upper web feed roll coacting with said lower roll for feeding all the webs towards the cutters, of mounting means for said upper feed roll permitting adjustment of the axis thereof over an arcuate path and means for effecting such adjustment to.vary the angular relation of the upper and lower roll axes so that the direction of the common tangent of the roll surfaces can be varied between positions corresponding to favourable feeding conditions for one or other of the cutters.

3. In an apparatus according to claim 2, a pivotally adjustable structure and links connecting the main upper web feed roll with said structure, the said main upper web feed roll resting upon the lower feed roll so that by adjusting the said structure the desired arcuate adjustment of the main upper feed roll is obtained.

4. In an apparatus according to claim 2, a pivotally adjustable structure and links connecting the main upper web feed roll with said structure, the said main upper web feed roll resting upon the lower feed roll, and power means operatively desired arcuate adjustment of; the;-mainupper feed roll is obtained.

5.. In an apparatus for cutting from longitudinally slit webs having a plurality of cutters for: cutting the webs transversely and Web'feedin means arranged so that webs can be fed to-any one or more of the cutters, the combination with a pair of coacting Web feed rolls for feeding the slit webs to the cutters of means for adjustably varying the relative angular relationship of the said feed roll axes in such a manner that the direction of the common tangent of the roll surfaces can be varied between positions corresponding to favourable feeding conditions for one or other of the cutters, and means for lifting one of the said web feed rolls away from its associated roll to interrupt the feeding of the webs.

6. In an apparatus for cutting sheets from longitudinally slit webs having a plurality of cutters for cutting the webs transversely and web feeding means arranged so that the webs can be fed to any one or more of the cutters, the combination with a main lower web feed roll having a relatively fixed axis of a main upper web feed roll coacting with the lower feed roll for feeding all the webs towards the cutters, a member pivoted about an axis, links connecting the main upper feed roll which rests upon its coacting lower feed roll so that angular adjustment of said member about its pivot effects adjustment of the main upper feed roll to vary the direction of the common tangent of the main upper and lower feed rolls between positions corresponding to favourable feeding conditions for one or other of the cutters, stop means on the said links and abutment means on the said member engageable by the link stop means when the member is angularly adjusted beyond the required range of arcuate adjustment of the roll, the arrangement being such that further movement of the member beyond the said range raises the links and thereby lifts the upper feed roll from its coacting lower roll to interrupt the feed of the webs.

7. In an apparatus for cutting sheets from longitudinally slit webs comprising coacting main web feed rolls, a cross cutting device disposed adjacent said main feed rolls for receiving a web directly therefrom, a second cross cutting device disposed at a distance from said main feed rolls. and auxiliary feed rolls for feeding a web from the main feed rolls to said second cross cutting device, the combination with said main feed rolls of means for adjusting the angular relation of.

the axis of one of the rolls with the axis of the coacting roll to vary the direction of the common tangent of the roll surfaces between a position affording favourable conditions for feeding a web to the second cross cutting device and a position affording favourable conditions for feeding a Web to the first cross cutting device.

8. In an apparatus according to claim 7, an upper main feed roll resting upon a lower main feed roll, a pivotally mounted structure, links connecting said upper main feed roll with said pivotally mounted structure, and fluid actuated piston means operatively connected to said pivotally mounted member for rocking the same whereby the angular relation of the upper feed roll axis to the lower feed roll axis can be adjustably varied.

- JAMES ECKERSLEY BATTERSBY.

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